EXEIECAN
BE REUE
TO A PYIAL
COMONNT
the body that responds to external and internal
stimuli by saying to neurons, "Attention must
be paid." Neurons have at least eight different
types of receptors for dopamine; each absorbs
a different message. Restricting the actions of
dopamine reduces schizophrenic symptoms.
This physical aspect of schizophrenia
should prompt changes in our attitudes
many people still see mental illness as a
stigma-and in insurance policies that grant
less coverage for mental illness.
in every hundred Americans-
including as many as one-third
of homeless adults-have schizo
phrenia. At a busy corner I see tell
tale traits: Some homeless people stand alone
and look particularly disheveled, strange
Finely honed discipline is part of the act
for the Enigma, a performer in the
Seattle-based Jim Rose Circus. To swal
low two feet of steel, he controls the gag
reflex and muscles all the way to his
stomach. "I took a couple years to get
the first sword down."
even among the strange. One woman wears a
wire-and-foil hat. "To keep my skull from
opening," she says.
What went wrong for these people? Lack of
money and bad luck are likely suspects. About
40 percent of Americans with severe mental ill
ness receive no treatment. "I'd be on the street
myself if it weren't for my family, doctors who
care, and medicine," Steve Elmore tells me a
few days later when (Continued on page 18)
Quiet Miracles of the Brain